The Aggregate Final was between the Bluebirds ‘E’ and the Cen-Terry! 24 team, and it was held at the Claypipe Inn.
Bluebirds ‘E’ threw first and finished with a score of 35. Cen-Terry! 24 response was a 25, giving the Bluebirds a lead of 10 after the first leg. First man Chaf for the Cen-Terry team got the side off to a great start in the second leg by getting a 16 stick-up and the team finished with a high score of 51 on the board. Bluebirds scored 26, a turnaround of 25 pins, which now gave the Cen-Terry side a lead of 15. Steve Gorson got the ‘E’s first double score in the third leg, notching up a 13, which helped them to a score of 45. Chaf started the Cen-Terry reply with his second stick-up, this time a 12, and they finished the leg with a score of 41, which meant they lost the leg by four pins, but overall they were still ahead by 11 pins.
That man Chaf started the fourth leg with another stick-up for the Cen-Terrry side, again putting another 12 on the board, and they finished with a score of 40. Bluebirds came back with a 35, leaving the Cen-Terry team now 16 ahead. Fifth leg, Bluebirds team scored a 42, Cen-Terry scratched their way to a 33, meaning their lead was reduced to seven. Bluebirds clawed another pin back in the sixth leg, thanks to Competition’s captain, Eddie, scoring his second consecutive 10. Cen-Terry! was now only six pins ahead.
Seventh leg, Bluebirds team threw first and notched up a 33 score, Cen-Terry team replied with a 36, which put them nine ahead in the match with two throws to go. Cen-Terry threw first in the eighth, and with a solid team score, they recorded a 44. Bluebirds ‘E’ reply was 36, leaving them now 17 behind going into the last leg. Bluebirds threw first and scored 26, leaving the Cen-Terry! 10 to win. First man Chaf got a nine, with only one pin needed, the teams shook hands.

The Handicap Final was held at the Moordown Con. It was a contest between the Centenary JB team, who had a handicap of 27, and the Oakdale PHC team, who had a handicap of 30.
First leg saw the Centenary JB side pull back the three handicap with a score of 46 compared with Oakdale’s 43. After the second leg, Oakdale PHC were five pins ahead, Centenary side pulled four of the pins back in the third leg, and now Oakdale PHC were only leading by one.
The fourth leg saw the Centenary JB hit 56, their highest score of the night, thanks to a 12 from Killler (Mark) and a 13 from Captain Antony, end of the fourth leg, they were ahead by 11 pins.
In the fifth leg, Centenary JB got another stick-up, this time, it was Adam who scored 11, but the JB team lost two pins on the leg, finishing with a score of 42. Oakdale PHC recorded their third consecutive 44 score in reply to the Centenary’s 42. Centenary JB increased their lead to 14 in the sixth leg.
Oakdale PHC pulled one pin back to trail by 13 in the seventh, then they threw first in the eighth leg and got their first stick-up of the night, which was a 15 scored by Jason, and totalled a score of 52 for the leg. Centenary replied with a score of 42, which left them with a lead of only three with two throws to go.
The Centenary scored 39 in the ninth leg, Oakdale PHC replied with their fourth 44 score of the night, which gave them a lead of two going into the last throw. Oakdale threw first on the last leg. Jason came in with his and Oakdale’s PHC second stick-up of the night with a 13, which helped them to a 49 total for the leg. It left the Centenary team needing 51 to draw or 52 to win the match. It came down to the last two players, needing 26 captain Tony had the chance of a stick-up but failed to convert it, last man Dave needed an 18 but took out the middle pins, which left the Oakdale PHC the winners of the Handicap Cup for the first time.

PRESENTATION NIGHT IS ON SATURDAY, JUNE 6th, AT THE NEWTOWN CLUB, 7.30 – 11.30pm. Tickets are £5. There will be a Disco provided by Mikey, a raffle, and a quiz. All names and addresses should be with me by Friday, May 22nd.

Fifteen Captains/Vice-captains took part in their annual night of skittles, this year it was held at the Colehill club. After the first two throws, Tom Phillips from Bluebirds ‘A’ and Nigel Wills from the Oakdale PHC team were leading the way on 16, with four players one pin behind them on 15. At the halfway stage in the competition, Wonder Woman Tash and the Lightning thrower Jordan Nicholls had taken over the top spot with a score of 24, with three captains/vice on 23.
Fourth leg saw lightning strike the top spot with 33, Tash was lying second one pin behind on 32, Si Marsh, last year’s champion, and Tom Phillips were on 31. In the fifth leg, both top two leaders scored a six. Tom Phillips took over the lead in the fifth leg, by scoring a nine, which could off been more, if he had taken the split two chance of a stick-up. Another nine in the leg was from Dave Connolly (the chairman), which gave him a running total of 39 also on that score was Jordan Nicholls.
Tom Phillips scored eight in his last throw, which gave him a total of 48. With no stick-ups in the evening at this stage, although there were chances, could anyone get that important stick-up to challenge him, but none did. Tash and Jordan both finished on 47, making it a throw-off for second place. Jordan threw first and scored six, Tash could only reply with a four, leaving Jordan to be the runner-up in the competition.
Final scores were T. Phillips 48, J. Nicholls, T. Davis 47, C. Froud, S. Marsh & D. Connolly 45, J. Taylor, N. Wills 43, S. Lee, M. Elston 38, M. Jeans, P. Downton 36, S. Shear 35, L. Smith 33, R. Melhuish 32.

25 YEARS AGO (2000-2001) SEASON
There were 49 teams in the Poole & District Skittles Association. The first and second leagues had 16 teams, the third had 17. No fourth division for the first time.
The winners of the first division by three points were Bluebirds ’97. They were captained by Bill Lovell and finished the season with 76 points from their 30 league matches, and won 18 Beers, reversing their fortune from the previous season, when they finished second to the Bloxworth side. The Bluebirds ’97 team also won the Champion of Champions Cup that season. After a play-off for the runner-up trophy, the Bloxworth team was led by P. Toop overcame the Hamworthy Legion G side, their captain was Eddie Harris, both teams finished on 73 points, the Hamworthy Legion team won 19 Beers against the 18 by the Bloxworth side, but the winners of the Beer Cup was Colehill who’s captain was Allen Clarke they won 20 out of a possible 30 in the season and played their home matches on a Friday. The league stated which night you should play on. The 1st division should all play on a Tuesday. There were only three teams that actually played their home matches on Tuesday nights. The following year, the first division would have been allocated Wednesday nights for playing their matches.
The Bluebirds ’97 team also won the Champion of Champions Cup that season.

Winners of the second division by three points were the Broadstone Y2K side who was captained by Graeme Davis, their home venue was the Broadstone Railway Hotel, they won the league with 73 points from their 28 league matches and also won the Beer Cup with 20 wins from their league fixtures, in their team was the President of Poole Skittles at the time Cyril Matthews he had won the 1st division in three consecutive years (73/74, 74/75, 75/76), Cyril Matthews served on the general committee from 1972-73 to 1997 he became President of the Poole and District Skittle League from 1998 to 2005, he went on to become a Life President, the division finished up with 15 teams, Wimborne Lads dropped out during the season.
Runner-up in the second division was Oakdale C with a total of 70 points. They were three points clear of third-place Lytchett B, who ended on 67 points. Oakdale C team finished 3rd in the previous season (1999-2000). The captain for both seasons was Steve Lee.

The third division winners in 2000-01 season were the Potters Stuff, their captain was Bill Meaden. They scored 86 points from their 30 league matches and won the division by four points from Bluebirds 81′, their captain was Tony Evans. The Potters Stuff also won the third division Beer Cup with 22 wins from their 30 league matches. There were 17 teams in the division. The Power House team failed to complete the season, leaving 16 teams in the division. There was no fourth division that year.